Healthy Brees eager to show he's not slipping at 36

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; The 36-year-old New Orleans Saints quarterback played only four offensive series in the preseason, so his next genuine opportunity to show how good he really still is comes Sunday in the regular-season opener at Arizona.
Cardinals defensive backs such as ...

The 36-year-old New Orleans Saints quarterback played only four offensive series in the preseason, so his next genuine opportunity to show how good he really still is comes Sunday in the regular-season opener at Arizona.

Cardinals defensive backs such as Louisiana native Tyrann Mathieu don't sound as if they need to be convinced that Brees remains one of the NFL's best.

''There's no doubt about it. It doesn't matter who you put around that guy. The offense runs through him. His confidence level, his understanding of the system that those guys are running over there is just unbelievable,'' Mathieu said Wednesday. ''It's tough to beat guys like that - guys who are so comfortable in their system and just understand it so well.''

One could look at Brees' 2014 season and see that his yards passing were his lowest since 2010, while his interceptions were up by five over 2013 and his team missed the playoffs with a losing (7-9) record.

A beefed up line and a strong running game will be the formula for Drew's and the teams success.

You hit the proverbial nail on the head. If you recall last year, Brees rarely had time in the pocket. The Saints relied heavily on the short passing game and, even then, receivers could not get separation. Lack of time and separation accounted for many of Drew's interceptions.

I recall in the SB that we never sacked Manning. What we did do was collapse his pocket, preventing the Colt receivers from getting separation and keeping Manning from stepping into his throws. The result....one very memorable pick-6 and a nice ring.